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Author Topic: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.  (Read 14876 times)

Offline Bender

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New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« on: July 16, 2009, 08:54:48 PM »
Long story short. I have a MINT condition 97' Bandit 1200 in blue. with a yoshi slip on. 10k miles....I mean showroom nice. Anyway On the ride home on my new to me bike I notice that at 80mph my wife following in my 07 impalla said I was only going 70. I checked the front tire and I am almost positive it is stock size.....what gives?
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Offline mwheat308

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2009, 09:04:20 PM »
 :welcome:
Glad you found this board, these guys know their stuff.
I have a 2K 1200S all stock, and my speedo is off 6mph at all speeds. I have been told that most bike speedos read fast.
Good luck with it
Mike
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Offline txbanditrydr

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2009, 11:31:00 PM »
Common issue with most bikes.

Some will buy gadgets to correct the speedo but then your odo is off.

Personally, I simply adjust to it reading high (6-10%) depending on speed.  A simple trick is to add the numbers of the speed limit together and that's your target speed.... example: 45mph limit is 4+5 =9 then your speedo can read 49.  70mph limit is 7+0 = 7 then your speedo can read 77.  Might make your head hurt a bit but your bike is doing just fine.

BTW -  :welcome: to the Alley
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'05 B1200S ... Top 20 mods... #20 through #2 - All The Usual Ones, Yada, Yada  & #1... 150,000+ Miles and Counting!!!!

Offline Red01

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2009, 05:08:19 PM »
Hmmm... you add 9mph to 45, but only 7 to 70?
I just add 10% - even though the electronic speedo on my 01 seems to have a compounding error that gets worse the faster you go ie; at 35 it's 7% off, at 70 it's 10% off...  The only time I've ever been pulled over was for speed beyond these calculations.  :trustme:
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Paul
2001 GSF1200S
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Offline txbanditrydr

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2009, 05:14:18 PM »
Quote from: Red01 on July 17, 2009, 05:08:19 PM
Hmmm... you add 9mph to 45, but only 7 to 70?

About the time I hit the post button I knew that was confusing.... I really didn't explain it right and I'm not going to even try.  Best used in the speed zones that end in zero - that's for sure....   :duh: :duh:   :rofl: :rofl:
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'01 B600S ... sold
'05 B1200S ... Top 20 mods... #20 through #2 - All The Usual Ones, Yada, Yada  & #1... 150,000+ Miles and Counting!!!!

Offline Sven

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2009, 07:36:48 PM »
Quote from: txbanditrydr on July 16, 2009, 11:31:00 PM
Personally, I simply adjust to it reading high (6-10%) depending on speed.  A simple trick is to add the numbers of the speed limit together and that's your target speed.... example: 45mph limit is 4+5 =9 then your speedo can read 49.  70mph limit is 7+0 = 7 then your speedo can read 77.  Might make your head hurt a bit but your bike is doing just fine.

I have a similar method.  I just always go at least 5 MPH over the speed limit on city streets, 10 MPH on freeways!  Works great on any brand of bike, and all makes and models of cars.  No assembly required!
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2010 Yamaha FJR1300A | Gin Tama | the silver bullet
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Offline Robertbarr

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2009, 10:18:06 PM »
I have a GPS unit mounted on the bars, so I can compare directly.  By 70 m.p.h. I'm 10 off, so I adjust accordingly.
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Offline Snubnose

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2009, 01:51:14 PM »
Quote from: Sven on July 17, 2009, 07:36:48 PM
I have a similar method.  I just always go at least 5 MPH over the speed limit on city streets, 10 MPH on freeways!  Works great on any brand of bike, and all makes and models of cars.  No assembly required!

OK, now somebody do the metric version of this math! KPH? :duh:...Up in the great white North here, I can honestly say, no matter what speed Ive been cruising at (or playing with- we all Know what I mean) I have never, ever been stopped by coppers!. I figure the variance for a CDN spec bike is about 10 KPH, as my buddy recently while on a long trip through the kootenays, on his 85 Maxim 750S told me I was doing 120KPH when I saw myself doing about 130, I was doing 130 (I thought), only because I know he had trouble doing 140KPH for extended periods of time!..Perhaps those 80's bikes had more accurate speedos?
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Offline Bender

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2009, 08:23:37 PM »
Quote from: Robertbarr on July 17, 2009, 10:18:06 PM
I have a GPS unit mounted on the bars, so I can compare directly.  By 70 m.p.h. I'm 10 off, so I adjust accordingly.

I think this will be the best way to fix it........I really just wanted the odo to read right.....but oh well.... :roll: :annoy:
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Offline Robertbarr

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2009, 09:07:15 PM »
Quote from: Bender on July 18, 2009, 08:23:37 PM

I think this will be the best way to fix it........I really just wanted the odo to read right.....but oh well.... :roll: :annoy:

There's a plug-in device that will fix the error -- I've seen one on ebay -- but it costs more than what I paid for mty GPS.  So...
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Offline wizzobeer

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2009, 09:38:16 PM »
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Offline Snubnose

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2009, 12:10:57 AM »
Quote from: Bender on July 16, 2009, 08:54:48 PM
On the ride home on my new to me bike I notice that at 80mph my wife following in my 07 impala said I was only going 70.

I (03 Bandit) was riding with my friend (85 Maxim) today and a few times I signaled him to take stock of our speed according to his speedo.

Heres the results....
Maxim 110KPH - Bandit 120KPH
Maxim 120KPH - Bandit 130KPH
Maxim 130KPH - Bandit 137KPH
Maxim 137KPH - Bandit 142KPH

This would explain why I've never received a ticket!
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SNUBNOSE, Alberta, Canada
2003 B12S - Silver
Stock 06' pipe
3 shims on each needle
Zero gravity SR
Sw Motech rear rack - V46 Top case
PAIR Block off Kit
Salamander Bar Ends
007 special license plate feature ;)

We are not what we think we are, We are not what others think, but rather, we are what we think others think we are!

Offline Bender

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2009, 11:23:57 AM »
Quote from: Robertbarr on July 18, 2009, 09:07:15 PM
Quote from: Bender on July 18, 2009, 08:23:37 PM

I think this will be the best way to fix it........I really just wanted the odo to read right.....but oh well.... :roll: :annoy:

There's a plug-in device that will fix the error -- I've seen one on ebay -- but it costs more than what I paid for mty GPS.  So...

Well I looked. but my bandit is a 97. mechanical still.....so no love......... :rant2: oh well. the mental math is cheaper than $115.
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Offline Red01

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2009, 10:35:40 PM »
Quote from: Bender on July 18, 2009, 08:23:37 PM
Quote from: Robertbarr on July 17, 2009, 10:18:06 PM
I have a GPS unit mounted on the bars, so I can compare directly.  By 70 m.p.h. I'm 10 off, so I adjust accordingly.

I think this will be the best way to fix it........I really just wanted the odo to read right.....but oh well.... :roll: :annoy:

Funny thing is the odo is usually right, just the speedo is off.  My odo is less than 1% off.  Speedo is AAAY more off than that (see above).
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Paul
2001 GSF1200S
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2010 Concours 14ABS
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Offline Bazza

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Re: New bandit 12 owner, speedo way off.
« Reply #14 on: July 25, 2009, 12:03:11 AM »
Every bike I have ever owned has an overzelous speedometer, and here is why.

You will find with a fresh set of factory tires, the reading will be much closer, but as your tires wear on a bike (much more so than a car) your speedometer will suggest your going faster than you are, due to the slightly faster rotation your wheel will turn because of the smaller diameter rubber that was put on when the bike was new. A Bike speedo becomes even less accurate at higher speeds when this happens. (You might be off 5% at 30 mph but 10% at 80 mph)

The manufacturers could adjust this, but this would mean that when you bike was new, you would actually be going faster than your speedometer tells you. This would open up a whole bunch of lawsuits with the manufacturers as people could claim they were speeding because of a factory flaw in the bike. (Yes, your honour, I was travelling too fast because Suzuki sold me a bike with a faulty speedo)

Do keep in mind, that there are not many lawsuits that happen because someone was going a bit slower than the posted speed limit, there have been many because someone was going faster however.

The principal is now different than when you change sprockets on a Bandit.

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